and then i think there is a second component and that is that he selected as his running mate paul ryan. paul ryan, someone who is passionate about deconstructing comments of the 47%. >> has romney's campaign done a good job of responding to the criticism? >> he first comes out and says i stand by it basically. number one, that's bad. but then as he's tried to move away from it, he's ended up stumbling all over the place. the other day he was talking about showing empathy by doing health care reform in massachusetts, which simply reinforced that if that's empathy, then barack obama -- >> do you think the president used 47% to box him in? >> i think so but he's got to be careful. obama doesn't want 47%, he wants 51, 52, 53. >> john nichols, great to have you with us. >> the first day or two it was like the waco with the david koresh situation where they're trying to smoke him out. >> todd akin's own campaign is comparing him to a cult leader. >> this is somebody who makes michelm michele bachmann look like a hippie. brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always go